The Rancher's Return

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“Thank you.” Making her feet propel her forward, she took the reins. “Where’s your horse?”

“Inside the barn.” He held out his cupped hands for her to step into. “Let me give you a leg up.”

Just like that, her heart began hammering in her throat. She wasn’t sure she could bear his touch. As she stood staring at him, feeling foolish, she forced herself to move forward. Using his hands as a springboard, she jumped up into the saddle. Only when she’d gotten settled did Reed go and retrieve his own mount.

The sun felt warm, the horse’s gait smooth, and as they rode up a winding dirt road, Kaitlyn finally began to relax. She wished she could stop having the need to keep reminding herself she was safe here, and hated also the expectation that at any moment, she’d find out she wasn’t.

Maybe after she’d been free awhile she’d stop jumping at every shadow and her neck wouldn’t hurt from constantly looking over her shoulder.

This person she’d become, the woman Alex had turned her into, wasn’t who she wanted to be. But she wasn’t sure she even knew how to get back to her old self. Or even if she wanted to.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Reed rode up alongside her, sitting as easily on the saddle as if he’d been born on horseback.

Despite her sudden melancholy, she gave him her brightest smile. He had no need to know how damaged she’d become inside. “More than nice. This is exactly what I needed. I’d forgotten what it feels like to be this free.”

His expression changed, just a minuscule amount, but enough to remind her she’d again managed to bring her past in and ruin the moment. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, hating that she felt she had to apologize. “I’ve only been away a day. I’m trying to get used to the idea.”

“No need to be sorry.” Despite the kind words, Reed sounded grim. “Believe me, I remember how it feels. As if the sky is too big, too open, and you wonder if you could be crushed to death under the vastness of it all.”

Her heart leaped at his words. Of course he understood, and he didn’t appear to be ashamed to speak it out loud. “You’re exactly right.”

One quick jerk of his chin was his only response. As he spurred his horse into a jog, then a lope, he called back over his shoulder at her. “Come on, let’s ride.”

The afternoon passed much too quickly as far as she was concerned. They rode and rested, Reed taking time to point out various landmarks. She was glad the sky turned cloudy as she hadn’t thought to locate sunscreen.

“I think it’s time to head back toward the ranch,” Reed said.

Kaitlyn sighed. “Thank you again. I haven’t had such a nice afternoon in years.”

He barely glanced at her, his attention focused on the darkening sky. “We need to ride faster,” he said. “That storm out west is heading this way.”

When she looked where he’d pointed, she realized he was right. And now that he’d mentioned it, she could smell the hint of the coming rain on the breeze.

“Let’s go.” He slapped her horse on the rear before urging his own mount into a gallop.

Without looking she could feel the storm gaining on them. The wind picked up, carrying moisture. Thunder boomed, still off in the distance, but gaining.

Finally, they rode up a hill and she could see the ranch spread out below them. Her horse seemed winded, so she slowed the animal to a walk. Ahead of her, when Reed realized what she’d done, he turned and rode back to her.

Just as he reached her, thunder cracked right on top of him, spooking her mount. The immediate flash of lightning meant they were all in danger.

What happened next seemed in slow motion. Kaitlyn’s horse bucked and reared up. She almost fell, but held on to the saddle horn and managed to keep her seat.

“Good job,” Reed said. “Now ride!”

This time, she didn’t wait for him to slap her horse. She dug her heels into the animal’s side and took off. As they raced for the barn, thunder booming and rain pelting them, she knew she wore a grin a mile wide. Aware Reed would think she was crazy if he saw it, she restrained herself from shouting with joy into the wind.

She felt more alive in this instant than she could ever remember feeling. Exhilarated, energized and oddly defiant.

With more thunder, the boom was so loud it shook the earth. The air around them sizzled with electricity, which meant lightning had hit nearby.

Fifty feet away the sky opened up. The wind lashed the rain sideways, whipping her with her own wet hair. She knew she looked like a crazy woman, but she couldn’t stop laughing as she rode into the barn.

Maybe Reed understood or perhaps he just didn’t want to know, but he said nothing as he swung down from his soaked horse. He crossed to her and held out his hand, as if he thought she’d need help dismounting.

Instead, she waved him away. Pushing her drenched and tangled hair away from her face, she slid from the saddle.

Turning, she nearly crashed into him.

He reached out to steady her and just like that, her smile vanished and she froze.

Hands on her upper arms, he stared. “Are you...are you all right?”

Heaven help her, she tried to nod, but her breath caught in her throat and it was all she could do to breathe. Wrenching away, she sucked in air and tried to regain her equilibrium.

While Reed stood watching, clearly not understanding what was wrong.

“Kaitlyn. I’m sorry.” His deep voice revealed his confusion. “I’ll ask you again. Are you okay?”

“Maybe.” Keeping her back to him, wondering. “And maybe not. I think I might be going crazy. One minute, I’m thrilled to be alive, and the next, I’m...” She stopped, unable to finish.

“Well, if you’re able, unsaddle your horse. We need to get the saddles off and the horse brushed down. At least the rain should have cooled them off so we won’t need to walk them.”

More grateful than she could articulate at the return to normalcy, she got busy doing exactly what he’d said.

Chapter 5 (#ulink_4c59b09b-d33f-5f74-8c63-4b8082eb23bc)

Reed knew enough about post-traumatic stress disorder to understand what had happened. His touch had sent Kaitlyn back. Back to that awful place where a touch had meant torture, a beating or rape. He clenched his jaw and seethed with anger at the man who’d done this to her.

One thing he remembered about Kaitlyn Nuhn was the way she’d always been brimming with life. Even alone, her positive energy brightened the room. He’d seen her joy in the race against the storm; hell, he’d caught some of the excitement, too.

And then to see it all quashed by a casual touch... He shook his head. Stuff like that made it difficult to focus.

After helping Kaitlyn remove the saddle from her horse, he carried it into the tack room and set it on the wooden tree, drying it off with a towel. Then he did the same with his and grabbed a couple more towels from the small stack and two curry brushes. Handing one of each to Kaitlyn, he returned to his mare and began drying her coat before he started brushing out the sweat. The rhythmic sounds as he brushed never failed to soothe him.

Except now, he felt overly aware of the woman next to him, doing the same thing. He hoped the simple repetitive motion might bring her some peace.

His cell phone rang. “Hey, Brock,” he answered. “What’s up?”

“Someone broke into your house.” Brock sounded pissed. “I just left there. The police are still there. And they assigned that idiot George to investigate.”

Reed swore. “He’s probably the one who broke in. He called me wanting to search my house. I told him to get a warrant.”

“Search for what?”

“Tim’s old girlfriend.” In his peripheral vision, he saw Kaitlyn flinch.